Holy Cross College will graduate 680 seniors and confer four honorary degrees at its 142nd graduation ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Filton Field football stadium.
The ceremony will be held in Hart Center in case of rain.
Art Buchwald, syndicated columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner will be awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. He is commencement speaker.
Other recipients are Gov. Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania, a 1953 Holy Cross graduate, doctor of public service; Gov. Edward D. DiPrete of Rhode Island, a 1955 graduate, doctor of public service; and Judge Owen McGivern, a 1931 alumnus and retired New York state judge, doctor of laws.
Joseph J. Issa of Kingston, Jamaica, a graduating senior, will give the valedictory address. E is the first international student and the first economics/accounting major to be valedictorian at Holy Cross. He was chosen by the seniors’ Commencement Committee from among the 30 highest ranked seniors.
A baccalaureate Mass will be at 3 p.m. tomorrow in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel.
Buchwald, whose columns have been the grist for 26 books, was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1986, was raised in Scranton, Pa. He started his own law practice in Scranton and was elected in 1963 to the state senate. He was elected in 1968 to the first of two consecutive terms as auditor general for that state.
DiPrete was elected to his first term as governor of Rhode Island in 1984, the first Republican governor of the state in almost 20 years. He was elected to his second term in 1986, taking nearly 70 per cent of the votes.
Judge McGivern resigned in 1975 as presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appelate Division, First Department, after 25 years of service in New York courts.
Since retiring, he has been active in civic service as a member of the Council on State Priorities and a commission studying salary levels of New York City elected officials.
Source: The Worcester Evening Gazette
